Discussion Forum

Call for papers for the 2012 UCLA IRLE Graduate Student Research ConferenceFrom Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street: 50 Years of Student, Worker, and Social Justice StrugglesUCLA - March 13, 2012The…Continue

I got another one for you, Chapter 2 "Economic Rationality" of Herbert Spencer's Sciences of the Artificial. Clear, concise, and referenced (and like Ostrom he got the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences). High caliber ammunition if used properly. But make sure you're open to listening once you've startled 'em, most economists are actually concerned about figuring out the truth of a matter. They're just used to using certain (outdated and disproven) methods and theories to get there.

I saw hog away at the forum space, we could use some more dialogue on here. I don't want to bury you any more than you already are, it's easy to get lost in the social science literature since it is so vast. Particularly economics, you can find yourself knee deep in math in no time and the payoff can be small if you're not carefu. Do you have a particular objective or are your more rooting around and looking for an "aha!" moment? Ok, a little burying. It might only be because of my background in politics and economics but the best book I've read in ages was Elinor Ostrom's Understanding Institutional Diversity. She's got a framework that unifies the intuitions of political science (the real visceral kind not a castrated rational choice) with those of neoclassical economics. Backed up with strong empirical evidence and infused throughout with a healthy pragmatism. Powerful stuff.

Thanks for your comment, Christopher. Your remark about complicit politicians is most insightful. We do have a vigorous opposition and the curious alliance of extreme right and extreme left (on this issue at least). Ex-stockbrokers and bankers with a decent moral compass and socialists have combined to oppose the conservative government coalition. We had an Occupy space on the plaza outside the Cenral Bank but they were cleared out without violence in time for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Even they seemed to agree that we need tourist dollars really badly! I have so much to say but I don't want to hog this space. Thanks for the offer of material - I'm knee-deep in it but I would certainly follow up anything you think useful.

I have a background in economics and political science but don't work on financial market issues so I'm certainly no expert but I might be able to point you to some resources. My impression is that Ireland one case among many of the public being screwed by a good old game of "Heads I win, tails you lose." As I understand it, probably the worst case due to complicit politicians.

Iwonder if the focus of this group could be broadened in some way to include the morality and the politics of the market. After all, the Occupy Movement only makes sense in the context of financial markets which have achieved extraordinary power in our world (no matter what age you are). I live in Ireland and we have ascended a steep learning curve about financial markets because everyone in this country is being asked to repay billions of dollars of debt incurred by PRIVATE banks. The European Union is in crisis and the entire situation is dominating public discourse across the continent. I've had to divert from my own philosophical interests to bone up on all these issues. If anybody wants to pursue this line of interest I would be delighted.

As editors of a book proposal accepted for publication by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, we announce a call for submissions to a collection of essays exploring the connection between concepts of time and social change. The volume will have a strong focus on interdisciplinarity, the fusion of theory with practice, and presenting possibilities for ways in which the consideration of alternative notions of time could bring about social change. Thus it is not only practical philosophy papers that we invite, but also contributions from fields such as literary studies, media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, postcolonial studies, sociology and political science. For full details, go to: https://sites.google.com/site/timeandrevolutionbookproject/

What you say sounds right to me. I wonder, are you planning to write an article on the Occupy movement? And if you are, whether you are thinking of targeting an academic journal or something more mainstream? Or both?